Chicago Blackhawks defeat Los Angeles Kings 4-3
Jonathan Toews scored the game-winner in the third period, as the Chicago Blackhawks edged past the Los Angeles Kings 4-3, at the Staples Center on Monday night.
Patrick Sharp had two goals and an assist, while Marian Hossa also lit the lamp for Chicago, who snapped a three-game skid. Corey Crawford made 26 saves in the victory.
Ryan Smyth scored twice for the Kings, while Michal Handzus scored the other goal for Los Angeles, who have lost four straight games for the second time this season. Jonathan Quick turned aside 24 of 28 shots in the loss.
Handzus opened the scoring in the fifth minute of the opening period to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead. Jack Johnson fired a long wrist shot from centre ice, which was redirected by Handzus into the net. The Blackhawks tied it at 1-1 from Hossa's power-play
goal with over a minute remaining in the first period. Hossa countered Handzus and moved quickly to the net with none of Los Angeles players stopping him for his ninth goal of the season.
Chicago took a 2-1 lead on another power-play goal from Sharp in the eighth minute of the second period. Patrick Kane gave a pass from the right circle to the left, where Sharp one-timed it home. The Kings tied it with less than two minutes remaining in
the second period, as Smyth easily slipped the puck between the pads of Crawford.
Sharp again gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead in the fifth minute of the third period when he charged the net, lost control of the puck, got it back and snapped a wrist shot past Quick to send the puck home. The Kings, however, evened the game once more with
Smyth’s second goal of the contest with just over seven minutes remaining in the third period. Johnson snapped a simple wrist shot at the net from the left point, and Smyth deflected the shot in to make it 3-3.
The Blackhawks responded two minutes later and took a decisive 4-3 lead. With the disc behind the net, it appeared out in front and hit off of Quick. Drew Doughty attempted to clear it away, but Toews got the puck and scored through a pile of players.
"We knew it was going to be a tight game, so we just stuck it out. But we want to be better defensively than we were," Toews said. "There were some lapses, especially on the penalty kill, that weren't good for us. But we just found a way and that's the main
thing."
The Kings continued to put pressure in an attempt to tie the game, but were unable to even things up, as the Blackhawks swept the four-game season-series. It's the first series sweep of the Los Angeles by the Blackhawks in 28 seasons.
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